The holidays were a great time to spend visiting family, eating delicious food, and catching up on TV and movies. Even though Christmas trees are coming down and we’re heading back to work, Hollywood never stops releasing hits from both the small and big screen.
If you missed the Denis Villeneuve directed film “Sicario,” the first time around or can’t wait to watch it again, it was just released on DVD and Blu-Ray yesterday. I spoke to Bernardo Saracino, who starred alongside Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin, and he told me why this movie needs to be on your “must watch” list.
“Sicario” was just released on DVD. Why should everyone pick it up?
“It’s a film that people can watch several times and each time notice something new. Not to mention the cinematography and score of the film are masterpieces in their own right. It’s one of those films that addresses a topic that’s widely ignored but that affects everyone. At its core, it’s a film about the human condition and the internal battle we all face between good and evil.”
Tell me about your character and how it plays into the story.
“I play a character named Manuel Diaz, he runs the drug cartel on the American side of the border. He is a prominent businessman in the Phoenix area. Manuel is an example of the intricate web that ultimately stretches from Mexico and across the U.S. He is a cog in a much larger machine. The other characters want to get rid of Manuel permanently and know they can’t do that on American soil and they need him to try and shut down the head of the cartel and need to get him to Mexico to find that source.”
If you could’ve played any other character in the film, which would you have chosen?
“Benicio’s character Alejandro. He has so much depth and what he represented for me in the film is something we all battle internally. It’s difficult to define if he is good or bad or if what he does is necessary or not. There’s a level to each person where our actions may or may not affect other people in negative ways. Many of us wear clothes that we don’t know where they come from or have leather furniture and aren’t aware of the conditions the animals lived in. But we sort of have selective blindness to not look at those things. Benicio’s character represents the side of humanity that faces the grit and faces it head on with honesty.”
Are you and Benecio good friends now that shooting has ended?
“Yeah, we hit it off really well. We’ve had some awesome conversations. We bonded over talking about our daughters. He’s actually quite a funny guy. He’s a big college basketball fan and one of his favorite teams is the Lobos, which is the team from my alma mater. Which is kind of awesome.”
What can we expect to see from you in 2016?
“I have a couple projects coming out. “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” with Tina Fey, Martin Freeman and Margot Robbie. And I recently wrapped a project called “The Space Between Us” with Carla Gugino and Gary Oldman.”
